1: First Academic Department of Pneumonology, Interstitial Lung Diseases Unit, Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, “Sotiria”, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Abstract

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is frequently associated with lung cancer.1,2 Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been identified as an independent risk factor for the development of lung cancer and shares several pathogenic commonalities with tumorigenesis3. Patients with lung cancer and concomitant ILD have been excluded from the majority of clinical trials of chemotherapeutic regimens, considering the increased risk of acute exacerbations (AE) of preexisting ILD4,5. Thus, there is no consensus statement with regards to therapeutic approach of this specific subgroup of patients.